"21" Movie Overview

Director:

Writers (WGA):

Release Date:

Genre:

Tagline:

Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever.

Plot Outline:

"21" is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

Plot Synopsis:

View full synopsis. (warning! may contain spoilers)

Plot Keywords:

Mathematician / Bar / Gambling / Clothing Store / Professor

Awards:

1 win

User Comments:

Very Good Film

"21" Movie Review

So another mediocre gambling movie hits the scene – this one featuring blackjack. 21 is loosely based on a true story about a group of MIT students who form a team of card-counters headed up by a money-hungry professor, and head to Vegas to start raking in the big bucks. Obviously the movie distorts the real story to the point that it’s completely Hollywood-ized, but what do you expect? Unlike the original account (outlined in the book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, by Ben Mezrich), the brainy team of cheaters in 21 becomes an insta-success on the strip and proceeds to get a typical cinema-enhanced crash course on life - Vegas style. Except it’s not the Vegas anyone who’s been there would recognize – it’s a Vegas straight out of La La Land, replete with large, menacing gangster types, and implausibly conspicuous moves by the MIT Team that would be caught in under two minutes by any respectable casino security team.

Add to that a glitzy, stylish vibe that tries a bit too hard to be thrilling and glamorous, some mundane grade-B acting, and a lame yet predictable ending… and you’ve got 21. It’s a little like watching a music video, only without the cool music. But OK you say you still want to see it. Here’s a synopsis.

Ben Campbell plays Jim Sturgess, a shy, gifted guy who is barely making $8 an hour, struggling to survive while attending MIT. He’s of course led a stupidly sheltered life and is deficient in any real life experience – perfect protagonist to shove into the fast lane. Naturally his magnificent brain power is recognized, and he is recruited into a group of students, who under the direction of math professor and statistics guru Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), organize a squad to bring home millions of dollars counting cards in Vegas. The team develops a method of counting and signaling one another that is pathetically lame (you may get a few laughs out of it if you smoke out before watching), and obviously enjoys astounding success right out of the gate. Kate Bosworth, looking rather perky in this film, plays Jill Taylor, fellow card counter and the girl of Ben’s dreams. Predictably, Ben becomes hypnotized by the glamour and seduction of the fast money, the flashy Vegas scene, and of course Jill’s cute little boobs. He starts pushing things too far and falls into major trouble with casino security consultant Laurence Fishburne, who probably should have been given a bigger role in this debacle. There are a lot of gambling scenes in this movie that leave you flat if you have ever actually played blackjack, and not enough topless hookers to make up for it.

Not going to ruin the ending for you since you insist on seeing this garbage, but prepare to feel like you went in to rent a car for your weekend away, asked for a Caddy, and got a Dodge Neon instead. Enjoy.